Oil-reclaiming mechanism



July 28, 1931L l -B. ELLlsE-'r' AL OIL -RECLAIMING MECHANISM Filed Jan.

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Patented July 28, 1931 i sursis-- Lofoiiwoon BYRON ELLIsiANnFENlN ivi. Ironia-niv, or? DETROIT, MICHIGAN; AAss'IGNoR To GENERAL MOTORS ooRis.oRATIo1\;4 or DETROIT, MICHIGAN; Af CORPORATION-0F DELAWARE c I OIL-BLAIMING .IVC'IIANISM Application led January 24, 1925K Serial No. v431916864:-

The invention relates to' thetreatmentot oils or other materials of similar characteristics, and more specifically the applicationof filtering and heat treatment to lubricating oils such as are employed in connectionI With internal combustion engines.-

The deterioration of lubricating oils asv ordinarily employed in the crank case of an internal combustion engine due to the conlfh densation therein of Water and hydrocarbons forming constituentsfof the explosive charge either beforeor after-'combustiom is a Well known diiiculty attending the opera-4 tion ofsuch engines. The dificulty'has been .151- 4enhancedand Will probably tend-to increase further by reasonlofthe-use of fuel` 'oils-ofi higher boilingv points. We have foundy by actualtestthat afteronly a five-hundred mile run, samples of oilfrom thecrank case' 20ct an automobile engine have contained asy high as forty percent `of-Water and tenpe'r# cent' of fuel oil. The Water tends toformajelly-like emulsionA With the oil Whichi collects on the Walls of the crankl case and oil;I

2li-pan and reduces Vthe space forffreeoil, While f the fuel oil' reducesthe viscosity ofthe mix` ture to such an extent that the oiliilm-Aon' the hearing membersisliable to b'realxfunder .pressure and thereby entirely ia'ilin-efect-4 30 ing its desiredilubricating'function.

It has been proposed =to apply to'theflubri' cating oil during` the operation of the enf gine, a-heat treatment whereby th'eportions of. lower boiling point, and Whichfconstitute' 35 impurities in' the lubricant, may be elimi- Y' nated: Our invention'is concerned more particularly With apparatus of this-type, and has for its principalY object` the pro visionofvmea'ns: applicable to an internal?V 4,0l combustion engine and adapted to remove o il from the crank case-thereof5` purifythe" oil, and return the same'` to` the l "cr-ank case.

Aifurther object istofprovide anioil-'trea'tf ing 'apparatus fof: the type lreferred to which 4K5` shall includethermally controlled means `for heat treating elements;fa'jndy determining the flow of oil `to theheat 4 treat-ing elements'ofthe apparat-us@ l y Affu'rtlher object is to provid-e incon'lec` tionA With the heat` treating apparat'usi iltering device Whereby'theoil I'niaylo'e 50 filtered and freed of impuritieszremoyable by-vaporization. f A further object is toproyide fbrthe con! stant supplyV of oil Vfroi'iithei crank caseto the Apurifying-'inechanisrn and 'tlie utilization of the usefulseparated;constituents; l

With the above andl other* objects irifyiexf,` as Will appear' more fully `from the folloWl ing 'descriptiom tlieinventioncomprisesftlie" l featuresV cti noveltyv herein'dscribed;tiffo gether With'- suchi variations and"modifica;`

Y nomi-herminefaufwithin the-Scopefoff'hef;

appended'claims'.' V y Iii-the 7accompanying drawings-in Wliichis" f illustrated` one embodimentof our'l inyen'y tien' Fig.- 'l' is Ia'neleiiat-i'nfofV an coin y busti-on engine having associated therewith an oil'treatingapparatus@` ,u l Fig. 2 is a vertical-sectional:view'of the Fig; 3 'isa Verticalsection'al. viewpff'tlie In the' -draWings 55 indicates van 'internal combustion engine h avinga crank 'case i6"` and' 75 oil pan'7-5l also aiiintakemanifold 8 leading" tothe engi-ne frein-the carburetor'flanfd' an' f exliaust manifoldlO: These parts may' be` of any uxsnal or desired*constructioinA ina-s`l muchas thefinvention'isV in 'noflway coni y cerned With'fthe 'speciicfdetails' ofthengne' y per se. lvlunted upon-the exhaust manifld l0,` and-'in14 intimate' heat' confductingrelai tionsliipthereizor,Y is mounted adisti'lling yjes sell1 provided with cover "12,y betweenAL which and the body ofthe receptacle-'is perforated baii'le 13. An outlet coi'dui ",514" lea-dsy from the vessel I*115,` anjd" preferably case Gl? Afvaporfconduitf :is connected to" @utilized in the formation of an explosive the passage 20 and arranged to engage with` a valve seat formed in the said passage. Apertures 22 may be provided to permit oil which `passes thevvalve 21 to escape into the interior of the vessel 11.

A thermostatic body 23, suitably secured `to the bottom of the vessel'11,'as by'a screw 24, is so positioned that it engages at its free end with the head of the valve plug 21. The thermostatic body 23-is so constructed and lmounted that it will retain'the valve 21 in closed position when the temperature in the vesselis at or below a certain predetermined minimum, but will allow the valve to open `when the temperature has reached the point at which desired action upon the oil will take place. Adjustment may be made Ato deter* mine the temperature lat which the valve will be permitted to open by rotation of the valve body 19, thus carrying the valve to ward or away from the thermostat 23, a lock nut-,25 being provided tol retain the member in the adjusted position. The thermostatic body 23 is preferably mounted in such relation to the wall of the vessel 11r thatits movement away from the valve body 19. will be limited by engagement with the said wall, thereby preventing the bending of l the thermostat beyond itselastic limit.

While I have described the vessel .11 as bein g mounted upon the exhaust conduit 10, it will be understood that the vessel, or a portion thereof, may be formed integrally with the-walls of said conduit.`

The vapors of vwater and of low *boilingv hydrocarbons which escape from the distilling chamber through the conduit 15 may be led to any desired point, but preferably to the intake-manifold 8, wherethey may be mixture for use in the engine.'` In order to prevent the condensation of the vapors asV they' pass to the intake,we may provide a heating `chamber 26 soiassociated lwith Vthe conduit 15 and with the exhaust manifold 10 as to'maintain the desired temperature of the vapors. As shown, we have formed the heating chamber integrally with the walls l of the vexhaust manifoldand adapted to receive the ends ofthe sections of the vapor conduit 15. i r A The oil Vwhich is to lbe treated is drawn from the crank case,as from the lower portion of the oil pan 7, througha'pipe 27by means of a pump 28. The pump is preferably of the positively acting (gear) type, as indicated at 28, and may be arranged to be driven by the same shaft as the pump no w employed for circulating the lubricating oil,

although, obviously, any desired means of actuation may be employed. y n

The oil vdrawn from the crank case is forced by the pump through the conduit 29 to a filter casing 30, being discharged tothe interior of the strainer body 31. This body is shown asE comprising a lower closed portion 32 connected by standards A33 to an upper end portion or ring 34, av

screen 35 being arranged around theinter'- mediate or open portion of the strainer bodv. The strainer body maybe closed at vtheupper end Yby a cap.36 held inposition by a screw 37 passing through the cover 38 of theviilter casing. Lugs 39, 4Q may bev provided respectively upon the strainer body and the cap to rfacilitate removal of the same 1 from the interior of the filter vcasing vwhen desired for the purposef ofgcleaning or inspection. The strainer body is spacedv from the interior of the'walls ofthe casing a suf'- o Iioient distance to provide'free passage for the oil flowing therethrough. An exit passage is provided in the lower portion of the casing, as at .41, communicating with the conduit 1G leading to the distilling chamf ber 11. In the end or head 32 of the strainer f body 31 is mounteda relief valve comprising a ball 42Yheld to its seat' by aspring actuated plunger 43 and controlling thefflow from the interior ofthe filter casing 30 to the bypass or overflow passage 44, which latter communicates with the conduit 45 leading back to the crank case. Thegpressure exerted bythe spring plunger 43 may`V .be adjusted, as by the plug46, so'asrto Vper- Y mit the escapeof oil when a predetermined pressure in the filter is exceeded." The pressure existing in the filter must, of course, be sufiicient to cause the flow of oil'therefrom to the vessel 11 when the opening of the valve'21 permits such flow.v I

The operation of the apparatus is asfollows: v

The pump being set in operatiom'either by direct connection tothe engine or in any described,

other desiredvmanner, the oil is drawn from the crankcaseand'forced through the screen f in the filter. As longfas the Avalve 21 remains closed, the oil all vreturns to the crank case through the passage 44 by way of the relief valve 42. When, however,` the valve4 21 has been opened by the operationV of the,

thermostat, i. e., whenV the temperature in v125 the distilling vessel 11 has reached the point necessary to'cause'vaporization of the lower f boiling impurities, which temperature mayVv be approximately 310O F., the oilvwill flow through the conduit 16 into the "vessel 11.

AThe oil entering thevesselis subjected to a heat treatment therein, and also, if the va-` of heavy oil to be carried outthrough the.

vapor conduit. We have found that at different throttle openings and load of the enn gine, the temperature in the distilling chamber is maintained practically constant, since more oil is admitted when the tem#` perature starts to rise and the increased quantity of oil absorbs more heat in its distillation.

It will be understood that the vapors may, if desired, be permitted to escape into the open air, or may be subjected to any further separating or condensing treatment necessary to facilitate further utilization.

Any excess of pumped oil above the amount permitted to enter the distilling chamber will return to the crank case after passing through the screen 35, the apparatus serving thus either to constantly filter the oil or to both filter and heat the same.

WVhile we have referred herein to the treatment of lubricating oil, and to the use of the apparatus in connection with an internal' combustion engine, it will be understood that the invention is, in some respects, of much broader application, and also that various changes in details of construction and arrangement may be made within the ability of one skilled in the art, and, therefore, we do not wish to be limited to the specific disclosure herein except as required by the language of the subjoined claims.

We claim:

1. The combination of an engine, a distilling vessel, a filter, means for causing oil to flow from the engine through said filter, means for permitting a portion of the filtered oil to pass to the distilling vessel, and

means for returning the remainder of the filtered oilto the engine.

2. The combination of an internal combustion engine, a distilling vessel, a filter, a pump arranged to supply oil from the crank case of the engine to the'filtelga conduit from the filter to the distilling vessel, a conduit from the filter to the engine crank case whereby filtered oil may be returned `directly to the crank case, a vapor conduit from the distilling vessel to the engine intake, and a residue conduit from the vessel to the crank case.

8. The combination of a distilling chamber, a filter, a source of supply, a pump arranged to force material from said source to said filter, means for conveying a portion of the filtered material from said filter to said distilling vessel, and means for returning the remainder of the filtered material to the i SOUICB. v i

l 4. The combination of a distilling vessel, aV filter chamber communicating with said vessel, pumping means adapted to supply lubricating oil to said chamber under elevated pressure, means for controlling flow from said' chamber to said vessel and for maintainingv the oil in said vessel under al lower pressure than the oil in said chamber.

In testimony whereof we affix our signa- 

